Upon entering temporary 15, Mr. Brendan O’Connell’s classroom walls are emblazoned with a mix of University of Maryland Terp posters, various pictures of Roosevelt’s sports teams, and world maps. Sitting cosily amongst various world history books, Mr. O’Connell’s eyes lit up as he described his area of education and the decisions that lead him to become a social studies teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt, teaching AP Human Geography and World History.

At the same age of many of his students now, Mr. O’Connell was unsure of what career path to follow. Attending the University of Maryland, he originally was enrolled in the business school, but found that “sitting at a desk behind a computer doing numbers all day” was not for him.

“After taking some heavy-duty accounting classes in the business school, I realized that wasn’t my thing,” chuckles O’Connell.

Inspired by a U.S. History college professor and his intellectually stimulating lectures, Mr. O’Connell found his niche during his junior year of college: he wanted to become a social studies educator. Once obtaining an education degree in social studies, he set foot towards Eleanor Roosevelt as a teacher’s intern. What he didn’t know, but would later would come to find, is that he would spend the next 15 years of his career at ERHS, building relationships with his students and establishing a home.

“Every day, every class period is unique,” said O’Connell. “I find it interesting to meet and talk with all sorts of different kids with different backgrounds, and hopefully get them interested in social studies and history.”

With common goals as any teacher to get students interested within his/her subject area, Mr. O’Connell describes his bigger overarching goal as a teacher: helping kids becoming better students.

“Obviously, I want them to know their history and learn social studies,” said O’Connell, “but if I can just help them be better students in general… to be excited to learn, to be passionate about learning.”

Many students feel O’Connell’s enthusiasm through his style of teaching, and his ability to connect with students with his wicked sense of humor. Senior Kendall Bargeman works closely with him as his student aid, and takes note of his dedicated relationship with students.

“He offers help with when his students need it and he makes sure they understand the material,” Bargeman states. “The students seem to like him alot and they laugh at his jokes. He makes learning fun.”

“He’s a great teacher,” says junior Hannah Uche. “His lectures are really informative, and I do really well on the test just by listening to him.”

Senior Lawrence DeVaughn-Miller particularly enjoys the class discussions that takes place within the walls of the classroom, specifically because of the opportunity to voice his opinion on the topic that is being debated. “It feels like I have a voice in this class, which is nice,” he says.

While not only leading by example for the students he teaches, he sets an example for his teacher intern, Ms. Ashley Hernandez. Working closely to follow in his footsteps, Ms. Hernandez talks about one of the major lessons she learned in Mr. O’Connell’s classroom that she will utilize in her future career: to create a connection with her students.

“I think it’s important that you’re comfortable with who you are, and you make sure that your students know that it’s okay to be who they are as well,” said Ms. Hernandez. “As a teacher you still want to establish yourself and have that respect in the classroom, but I think it’s also important to lay off sometimes and for people to have fun.”

While not only being interested in the academic portion of school, Mr. O’Connell has also coached various sports. For 12 years, he has coached the boys varsity basketball team as the head coach, and 2 years prior was the assistant head coach.  Pushing the boys to persevere throughout each season, O’Connell has led them to a thrilling victory of 2 state champions. Along with varsity basketball, Mr. O’Connell has also coached the tennis team for the past 11 years, but has recently stopped.

This article also ran in the November 24, 2016 issue of the Greenbelt News Review.